The Skating Rink

Regular Chiropractic Care and Effective Exercise

When we work on developing new skills in sports or activities we're counting on our nerve system to perform its critical functions of command and control. These functions are required for effective training of muscles, tendons, and joints, so that these musculoskeletal structures can advance in adaptability and performance.

As your body's master system, your nerve system is responsible for coordinating all the physiological processes of all your body's other systems. The interrelations among these complex activities must be addressed instantaneously and accurately. Regular chiropractic care helps ensure that your nerve system is free of nerve interference and operating at peak capacity. As a result, regular chiropractic care helps us advance in our exercise and sports activities, gain new skills, and enjoy long-term health and well-being.

In his 1856 journal, the great American philosopher and naturalist Henry David Thoreau wrote, "I love the winter, with its imprisonment and its cold, for it compels the prisoner to try new fields and resources." Thoreau, a fearless explorer of inner and outer landscapes, welcomed opportunities to learn and expand his capabilities. As he frequently observed, winter can be a great teacher.

But when we think about skating, skiing, or even surfing (a winter sport in southern California), it seems that winter may be a harsh time to attempt to develop some skills. But, at least for ice skating and snow skiing, winter is where the action is. The notion of "carpe diem" tells us we'd better just bundle up and get out there.

In terms of gaining proficiency and making these winter activities work for us as useful exercise, we may consider them as representative of all forms of exercise. The overall plan is to start slow and add duration, speed, and complexity over time. Endurance is one key area in which we want to make progress, as when we train for endurance we're training our cardiorespiratory system.

Winter sports also provide substantial exercise for the large muscle groups of the lower body - the gluteal, quadriceps, hamstring, and calf muscles. Performing these exercises provides excellent cross-training with respect to the upper body, so if, on alternate days, we do strength training for the upper body, we'll emerge from the winter months significantly stronger.

We may improve our winter exercise performance by additional training for the proprioceptive system1,2. Proprioception is your body's awareness of its positioning in three-dimensional space. All joints contain numerous proprioceptors that relate information to and from the brain.

Your ability to balance effectively and make instantaneous biomechanical decisions depends on a well-trained proprioceptive system. Alternating standing on one leg for 15 seconds at a time is a basic proprioceptor-training exercise; balancing on one leg while skiing, skating or surfing is a more advanced and demanding use of the system.

Overall, winter exercise may provide a lot of enjoyment, with unexpected victories adding to one's sense of personal fulfillment. With appropriate preparation, winter exercise may help pave the way for high levels of health and wellness throughout the year.

Our patient forms are available online so they can be completed in the convenience of your own home or office.

Office Hours

Day

Morning

Afternoon

Monday

Closed

12:30-7

Tuesday

Closed

Closed

Wednesday

7:30 - 1

Closed

Thursday

Closed

1-7

Friday

7 - 11

Closed

Saturday

Closed

Closed

Sunday

Closed

Closed

Day

Morning

Afternoon

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Closed

Closed

7:30 - 1

Closed

7 - 11

Closed

Closed

12:30-7

Closed

Closed

1-7

Closed

Closed

Closed

Testimonial

I started seeing Dr. Ang when she was associated with the Wellness Connection in Shawnee Mission, Ks. I had a couple of unpleasant experiences with other chiropractors, but a coworker gave Dr. Ang a glowing review so I decided to give her a try. I have been seeing her for about six years and she has helped me through many health related problems. She has helped me to understand so many things about how the body works and heals itself and how we can actually spare ourselves from many health problems. How refreshing--a doctor who keeps you from being sick! I truly believe my good health is a result of listening to her advice (though it may take awhile to get it through my head) and regular chiropractic visits. She is a very caring and concerned individual, not only with physical care, but also her patients emotional and mental well being. I now have my entire family receiving chiropractic care from Dr. Ang. We couldn't get along without her!